This Lent we are going Back to Basics with quotes from Saint Thomas Merton. One of the basics of Lent is that we are called to live in hope. Hope of the resurrection and hope of the life to come.
We are reminded in the Gospel of this hope. As Merton said, “Hope is the secret of true asceticism. It denies our own judgments and desires and rejects the world in its present state, not because either we or the world are evil, but because we are not in a condition to make the best of our own or the world’s goodness. But we rejoice in hope. We enjoy created things in hope. We enjoy them not as they are in themselves but as they are in Christ — full of promise. For the goodness of all things is a witness to the goodness of God and His goodness is a guarantee of His fidelity to His promises.”
This is the hope we have to cling to in a world that seems ready to burst at the seams. We are called to seek out the hopeless among us and to minister love and compassion to them. We are not called to preach to them and beat them over the head with the Bible. That is not what Jesus expects of us.
Rather, Jesus commands us to “let our lights shine” like he did when he was transfigured on the mountain with the disciples. His light solidified their belief in him. And the light that has been passed down to us for over two thousand years now keeps our hope alive.
This Sunday join us as we work together to build a community of hope in Augusta Georgia.
Pax et Bonum,
Bishop Greer